1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lamp covers, more specifically, to a protective safety guard that attaches to lamps, heat lamps, or the like.
Lamps are commonly used to provide means for both light and heat for living creatures contained in an aquarium and/or terrarium habitat. The health of the living creatures depends on the availability of such energy sources. Depending on the type of living creature, (reptile, bird, rodent, fish) the light source needs to be positioned in or around the habitat to provide adequate lighting or heat. Such positioning can often be dangerous to the animal, as the direct contact to the light would cause burns or even death.
The present invention provides means to protect against such direct contact while maintaining both adequate lighting and means to change the light bulb. The present invention is a protective screen guard having a screen element with spaced apart flanged fasteners for engaging the lip of a lamp, heat lamp, or the like. There are three flange members provided, two of which are permanently affixed to the screen guard and the third, a removable flange having a captive (pem-type) fastener for the securing and removal of the screen guard from the lip of a heat lamp.
In addition to the screen guard of the present invention preventing captive reptiles from becoming burned by the light bulb when maneuvering about the lamp, it also prevents the human handler of the reptile from becoming burned by the lamp bulb when interacting and maneuvering items within the cage.
The screen guard also provides improved means to protect the light bulb from breaking if mishandled and drop. The screen guard creates a barrier that encloses the light bulb within the lamp housing.
A preferred additional element of the present invention is optionally utilized to further protect the captive animal against exposure to the light and heat. In this preferred additional element, an opaque deflector plate is secured between the light bulb and the screen. The opaque deflector plate redirects heat produced by the light providing improved means to protect an animal.
The opaque deflector plate creates a barrier between the light and the animal providing means to redirect the heat and protect the animal. The deflector plate is secured by means of a screw that is inserted through an aperture in the screen and anchored with a threaded insert that is affixed to the deflector plate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other guards and protective devices for lamp safety. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,205,011 issued to Paul D. Phillips on Nov. 14, 1916.
A patent was issued on Dec. 14, 1926 as U.S. Pat. No. 1,610,609 to Howard L. Johnston. Another patent was issued to Jack Anthony Scardina on Dec. 6, 1932 as U.S. Pat. No. 1,890,130. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 1,923,970 was issued to Frank Dewey Dowling on Aug. 22, 1933 and still yet another was issued on May 10, 1949 to Carl R. Roebken as U.S. Pat. No. 2,469,412.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,822,462 was issued to Edison A. Price on Feb. 4, 1958. Another patent was issued to Robert T. Burns on May 8, 1962 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,982. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,637 was issued to Theodore H. Martland on Jan. 24, 1967 and still yet another was issued to Richard Hahn on Aug. 12, 1969 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,283.
Another patent was issued to Bert J. Sherwood on Apr. 24, 1984 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,165. U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,310 was issued on Nov. 4, 1986 to Richard Keating and on Sep. 25, 1990 Trasimond A. Soileau was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,762.
Still another patent was issued to Shih-Ming Lin on Aug. 26, 1997 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,464. U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,303 was issued on Mar. 10, 1998 to Shih-Ming Lin and on Dec. 7, 1999 Dennis K. Swanson was issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,160. On Sep. 12, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,759 was issued to Charles C. Smith.